Splicing machine



June 4, 1929. J. w. CHANNELL SPLICING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1925 5 Sheets5heet 1 ATTORNEYS.

June 4, 1929. J. w. CHANNELL 1,715,641

SPLICING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1925 5 Sheets-SheetZ l I W Mmmvroz,

Y 11% w Ml ATTORNEY! June 4, 1929. w, CHANNELLQ 1,715,641

SPLICING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 I VEN TOR.

a) "ii I I am ATTORNEY.

June 4, 1929. J. w, CHANNELL 1,715,641

SljLICING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 3 69 W wEN TOR.

W BY aw,

A TTORNEY\ June 4, 1929.

J. w. CHANNELL SPLICING MACHINE Filed July 17, 1925 n" 32 i\\\ Aw 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 is a front end elevation of the machine.

lease clutch, partly broken away.

Fatented June 41-,

l in earsnr crit cs.

JAMES W. CI-IAH'HFLL, OF SOUTH. GATE, CALIFORNIA.

SPLIGING MACHINE.

lippfication filed. July 17, 1925. Serial No. 44,257.

No. 684,314, filed January 1st, 1924.,patented January 3rd,1928, No. 1,65%,788; and the obj cct thereof is to produce a machine that will twist two wires together or a plurality of pairs of wires, and place an insulating sleeve over the twisted portions in a simpler and more efficient manner than the machine described in my other application. and will be described asused in splicing telephone cable wires.

In the drawings forming a part of this application, Fig. 1 is a top plan of my machine positioned on a cable being spliced, showing some of thewires spliced, wires in the machine ready for splicing, other wires ready vfor placement, and other Wires broken away. Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan of the machine, and fragments of the cable connecting device. Fig. 3 is an enlarged top planoi themachine just as the wire twisting is finished. Fig. i Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the twist cut er. 6 is a side elevation of the sleeve clutch. Fig. 7 is a side elevation oi? the gearbox. Fig. 8' is aside elevation partly broken away of the trigger standard. Fig. 9 is a s'ideelevation of the detent lever with. connected'andadjw cent parts partly in elevation and partly in section. Fig. 10 is a top plan of the compensating link, partly in section. Figs. 11 and 12 are side elevations of a double twist cutter, showing two positions vFig. 13 isa side elevation of the gears that drive the twisters shown in Figs. Hand 12. Fig. 14L is a side elevation of a double twist cutterview of Fig. 14. Fig. 19 is an edge view of Fig. 16. Fig. 20 is a perspective view oi a re -Reterring tothe drawings, is the base plate on which is rigidlyinounted grip'bar 26.

An. operating lever2i' is 'pivotally connected to bar some plate 25 by bolt28. A spring 29 connected to plate 25 and lever-27 normally holdslever 27 in its open position engaging stop 30 on plate125. tubular acket 81 protects spring 29;. Before commencing to use the mach me, the ends oi cable 32 are pos1t1oned in the manhole, not shown, in which the I splicing-operation is-carricd on; The lead Fig. 1

to one end of barfi l.

armor 33 removedlroin the ends of the cable the required distance. The machine is then. secured to the cable. This is accomplished as follows: A connector bar 34, best shown in Fig. 1, has a slot 35 extending longitudinally therein. Bolt 36 is passed through a slot 37 in plate 25 and. tbe'nut, not shown,

placed thereon. A second bolt 38 is passed through a slot 39 in the other side of plate 25 and also through slot'37. The arrangement of these slots and bolts is best shown in Fig. 4c. These bolts and slots adjustably secure plate 25 and bar 34 together so that plate 25 can be moved to the right or left or forward or backward with reference to bar 34. Se-

curedto the'ends of bar 34: are L shaped adj usting arms l0 and ll. A clamping member composed of an attaching jaw 42 and a movable jaw 4-3 are adjustably secured to arm 40 as follows: Jaws 42 and 43 are connected by clamp, screw id. Jaw 4:2ha's a U shaped shank 41:5 in the outer member ofwhich is a.

right angles outwardly and is pierced. An

adjusting screw threaded bolt 48 is revolubly mounted in the out-turned end of shank 45, but is not longitudinally movable therein. Bolt 48 passes through the base of arm 40 in threaded engagement therewith. By means of jaws l2 and 43 and screwtet and'connected parts,-one end of the cable is secured The other end of the cable is secured to the other end of bar 34 by like parts to thosedescribed and are for that reason not furtherdescribed or illustrated As shown, the corresponding parts are'nnmbored with like numbers. By the revolution of bolt .418, plate 25 and connectedparts are raised. and lowered with respect to the cable; insulating sleeves ill are placed on the wires at one end or" the cable, shownas at the right in Fig. 1. In this figureonlya part of the wires are shown withsleeves,but all the wires have sleeves when the splice is finished. Thcse'sleevesare positioned on the wires by the hand oi? an operator a few at'a time as theisplicing operation progresses. After a sleeve is positioned on a wire 50, the operator takes. such wire and brings the same through a holding and ejecting device mounted on the right side oitslidebl,v This holdingand ejecting deviceis composed of theiollowing parts A trigger standard 52 is rigidly secured 7 upon the base plate 53 of slide 51; Standard 52 has a vertical slit 54 therein, in which slit is mounted a trigger 55 having a bill 56 and a lip 57. Standard 52 has a horizontal slit 58.

across which bill. 56 and lip 57 extend when in the position shown in Fig. 8. A spring 59 secured. upon the top of the standard yieldingly holds trigger 55 in the position shown in Fig. 8. lVire 50 is brought by the operator against lip 57. The trigger yields to permit the wire to pass under the lip and it is then held between the lip and bill as shown in Fig. 8, in slit 58. He then brings the wire around skinning blade 59 and through guide 60. The operator takes the companion wire 61 from the other end of the cable an d brings it around skinning blade 62 and brings it through guide 60. When bringing the wires from the skinning blades to. the shears the wires are turned sharply aroundblades 59 and 62 (shown best in Fig. 9) and the paper insulation breaks at these blades andhe strips off the paper insulation from the wires between the blades and the ends of the wires. At this time the sleeve on wire 50 lies between standard 52 and guide lug. 63,1nm1nted on slide 51. Lever 27 has connected theretoa compensating link composed of a body member 64 (see Fig. 10) whichis secured to 27 by screw 65. Member 64'has a bore therein in which is mounted the end of connector pin 66, the outer end of whiclris reduced in size and has surrounding such reduced portion coiled spring 67 whereby. ayielding motion is bad between pin 66 and member 64. Pin 66 is connected to rack bar 68, which has rack teeth 69 on the top that engage a pinion 70, best shown in Fig. 13. Pinion 70 is rigidly mounted on shaft 71, on which is mounted a gear 72. Gear 72 meshes with pinions 73 and 74 when the machine is designed to splice two pairs of wires at one operation. If only a single pair of wires is tohe s liced, pinion 74 and connected parts would be on'iitted. Pinion 73 is mounted on shaft 75 and pinion 7 4 is mounted on shaft 76. Shaft 75 has rigidly mounted thereon a twister; hook composed of a body 77- from which projects an arm 78. There is a notch 79 at the junction of the arm and body and when shaft 75 is revolved. the arm catches the wires and brings them into and holds them in notch 79. Shaft 76 has rigidly mounted thereon a twister hook composed of a body 80 from which projects an arm 81. There is a notch 82st the junction of the arm and body and when shaft 7 '6 is revolved the arm catches the wires and brings them into and holds them in notch 82.v Shafts 71, 75, and 76 are mounted in a casing 83, mounted on plate 25, which casingencloses the pinions and gear mounted on said shafts. Rigidly mounted upon the side of casing 83, adjacent to slide 51, is a. plate 84, the top of which is bifurcated to form cutter bars and 86.

' mal position.

r Shafts 75 and- 76 project through this plate and the twister books are mounted on shaits'76umd 76 adjacent to bars 85 and86. These bars, as shown in Fig. 13, have the left hand edge at the top formed into a cutting edge. Pivotally mounted upon plate 84 is a shear member 87, the top of which is bifurcated with the right hand edges formed into a cutting edge forming blades 88 and 89, which with the tops of bars 85 and 86 form two shears into which the free ends of the wires to be spliced are brought after being stripped of insulation. Member 87 has a shank or lug 90 on the lower end thereof which projects into a notch 91 in shear operating bar 92 which moves in guide 93seeured upon plate 25, as best shown in Figs. 11 and 12. Bar 92 is connected by link 94lto lever 27, as best shown in Fig. 2. With a pair of wires-in'the slide and with the sleeveson one wire of each pair and with theinsnlation removed from. the skinning blades to the ends and with the ends passeil'througlrthe shears, one pair-through each shear, the operator moves lever 27 toward bar 26. The initial move causes-the twister hooks tolengage the wines and each;

pair is forced into=the notch of the-twister book of that pair. The'shears are at the same time operated to cut of! the surplus wire of thefroe ends and whenilever27 ishronght the required distance toward bar 26 therequi red twist is formedin each pairof wires.

During this movement of the inner end of lever 27, the outer end of'lever 2l"hasmoved.

to the right and beneathslide 51. The outer end of lever 27 has secured thereto abearing 95 in which is pivotally mounted a short link 95 whiehhas a head96. Link 953s.

moves to the right rides up andon a track 97, mounted ufnniplate 25, and just before the head'reachesthe limit of movement towardthe right itilifts upamd passes-beyond- As soonas bar: 99 isreleasodfromcatoh 100 the operator releases lever 27 andmpringfi) moves the lever back.' to its inoperative or nor In. its movementto the left, head 96 engages trigger: 98-andrcam'ies both the trig er and slide to thnnleft until thehaad rides otl track 9i. Aspring 102;, amend of which is secured to slide51 and the other to the slide guideframe, then returns-the slide to its normal position. J nsthefhre-slide 51. reaches its limit of movement tuithe left an ejecting lug 10:3, which projects fromthe sideot'theguide frame, engages trigger-55 into slot 58, I provide a detent lever 104, which is pivotally mounted by pin 105 to guide bars v 106 and 107, best shownin Figs. 3 and 9. A

spring 108 holds lever 104 in its normal posi tion, shown inFig. 9. Slide 51 has a lug 129 which engages lever 104;as the wire is ejected from slot 58v and holds lever 104 toprevent the wire from entering slot 58 and the slide then moves to the'right carrying the slit away from the wire, Lever 27 has attached there to near the inner end, a shear lug 109, which engages a shear blade 110 pivotally mounted on a companion shear gblade 111 when the inner end of lever 27 moves to the right. Blade 111 is mounted on plate 25. When lug 109 engages the bottom of blade 110, the top thereof shears past the top of blade 111 and cuts ofl the ends of the twisted wires that are in the twister hooks, leaving a twisted pigtail splice. Spring 110 holds blade 110 normally in the position shown in Fig. 5. It will be understood. that the wires pass between these blades as they are twisted as before ex plained. To eject the cutoff twisted portion of the wires from the twister hooks, I prefer to make the hooks in two parts spaced apart on the shafts that carry the hooks. I mount on plate 25 a standard 112, in which is rockably mounted an ejector blade 113 which has a pointed upper end that projects between the two hooks and liesin contact with the shaft on which the hooks are mounted, as shown in Figs. 15 and 18. A spring 114 bears against blade 113 and permits it to yield to allow the wires to pass when the hooks are rotated to twist the wires, but will not yield when the hooks are rotated in the reverse direction and will. thereby cause the out 01f portion of the wires to be ejected from the hooks. As slide 51' is moved to the left, guides 60turn the twisted uncut portion of the wires to the left. The further movement of the slide places the sleeve over such twisted portion and that portion of the splicing operation is finished. Other wires are then treated in like manner.

While I have shown and described lever 27 as operated by hand, it is obvious that it could be operated by any suitable power, proper connections being made therefor.

A stop 130 limits the movement of the outer end of lever 27 to the right. The threads of bolt 48 are protected by a sleeve 131. Frame 101 is mounted upon plate 25 by standard 132. 7 Where two pairs of wires are spliced at the san'ie time each pair is passed between the blades of cutters. In Figs. 13 and 14 the dol'ible cutters are shown. In Fig. 14 the cutters for cutting oli' the wire after it is twisted which lies between the twister hooks and the slide shown. This cutter comprises a standard 115 mounted on plate 25 whose top is bi'i'in'cated and the edges of the furcations are sharpened to form cutting blades 116 and 117. On standard 115 is pivotally mounted shear blade 118 by bolt 119. Blade 118 has a bifurcated top andthe edges-are sharpened to coact with blades 116 and 117. The out ting edges are marked 120 and 121. Aspring blade 118 operates the slide positions the twisted portions of-the ends and slides the sleeve thereover the same as if a single pair was spliced. When fine wire 1s used the twister hooks will twist the wires together so tightly that the twisted portion will break from the portions in the hooks at their outer edges and blades 110 and 11.1 are not necessary to be used.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machine for splicing cable wires, means to connect the machine to the cable comprising a base plate having parallel slots therein a slotted connector bar extending across the slots in the base plate; bolts extending through said slots whereby said plate and bar are adj ustably connected together; L

shaped adjusting arms secured to the ends of said. bar; and clamping members adjustably mounted on said arms.

2. In a machine for splicing cable wires, a base plate; means to adjustably connect said plate to the ends of a cable to be spliced; a plurality of twister hooks revolubly mounted on said plate; means to operatesaid hooks, and means to hold said cable wires in said hooks.

3. Ina machine for splicing cable wires,

a base plate means to connect said plate to the plurality of twister hooks revolubly mounted on said plate, wires to be spliced; a sleeve on one of said wires; means to hold and guide the wires; means to operate the hooks; means to cut off the excess of the twisted portions of said wires; and means to cause the sleeves to be passed upon the twisted portion of the wires.

5. In a machine for splicing cable wires, a

base plate; an; operating lever mounted on said plate;.-tw1ster hooks mounted on said plate and a connection between said lever and hooks whereby when said lever is moved said hooks are operated, said connection having as.

a part thereof a yielding'or compensating portion.

6. In a machine for splicing cable wires, a

base plate; a slide guide mounted thereon; a

slide in said: guide; means carried by said slide to hold a; wire against coming out of said slide until the wires are twisted; and means to operate said holding means to eject a wire therefrom when a sleeve has been moved over the twisted portion of the wires.

. 'Z. In a: machine for splicing cable wires, :1 base plate; a slide guide mounted thereon; a slide insaid guide means to lock said guide against movement during the time the wires are bein twisted; and means to unlock said slide 100 after the Wires are twisted.

8. In a machine for splicing cable wires, means to twist the contiguous ends of two wimes together; means to out off the sin-plus portions of the twisted portions of the wires;

and means to eject said cut oil portions from said twisting means.

9. In a machine for splicing cable wires, a base plate; means mountedon said plate to twist the loose ends of two wires together, said means comprising in part a shaft, twister hook mounted on said shaft, said hook comprising a body having a groove therein and a hi fnrea ted arm projecting iron! said body {11% gula;rly thereto to form a notch at the junction of said body and arm.

In witness that I claim the foregoing 1 have hereunto subscribed my name this 11th day of July, 1925-.

JAMES W. CHANNELL. 

